Just wanted to share a video of Christopher McDougall discussing about his book Born To Run. I have to say that this book really changed my whole outlook in running and it’s one of the main reasons that inspired me to continue to run.
It’s interesting because he also talks about POSE technique which is the technique that I am currently using right now. The first 30 minutes of the video is just basically an intro and he highlights some of the stories in the book. The second half is a Q&A. Enjoy!
I decided to hit the weights again today. The past few weeks, weight lifting took a back seat as my marathon training started to get harder. Now that I’m on my taper period, I figured I can squeeze in some strength training on Mondays and get some muscle. My wife and I have noticed some weight loss probably caused by the last 3 weeks of peak training. I know most people will hate me for complaining but I don’t really want to look too skinny. I’ve always wanted to have a little bit of muscle definition. That’s why I keep telling myself that after this race, I’m going to hit the weights again like crazy.
For today, I did some upper body strength exercises (chest and back) as well as some arms and shoulder workouts. Not too intense though as I try not to hurt myself before race day. My legs are still a little bit tight from Sunday’s run but hopefully they’ll be fine by tomorrow.
4 mile bridges run tomorrow!
Instead of doing the scheduled 12 miler, I ended up doing about 13 miles and I had no idea what my time was. Here’s why…So when I got to the site, I just realized that my Garmin was low on batteries already. I turned it on but it died even before I made it the half-mile mark so I just decided to turn it off and do a little bit of what I like to call zen running.
Zen running to me is just going out there not thinking about my time or heart rate or all the technical stuff that you need to think about while running. It’s just going out there taking your time and being present. So that means leaving all your cool running gizmos behind (iPods, watches, heart-rate monitors, etc.) I enjoy doing these type of runs every once in a while because it lets me meditate and clear my mind. And that’s actually one of the main reasons why I’ve enjoyed running so much and why I’ve decided not to listen to music while I’m running. During the run, I get so in tuned with my body and I experience a higher level of awareness in my surroundings. It’s an awesome experience and I’m actually planning on adding it to my weekly runs in the next year.
Merry Christmas! Make sure you’re loading up on carbs this Christmas! 
Last week’s training ended with a 20.66 mile solo run. In case you’re wondering…YES! I did an extra 0.66 miles! I wanted to see how it would feel after 20 so I decided to stretch the run. Also, I wanted to see if I could make it to both ends of the path walk. (It was one of those silly personal records that I wanted to do!). You see, the path walk that I normally run on stretches continuously 10+ miles from Brannan Field Road all the way to Blanding Blvd. (Along Oakleaf Plantation Pkwy and Argyle Forest Blvd) and I often wonder if someone had already ran or walked it from both ends. Now I can say that I did!
Instead of running the Jacksonville Bank Marathon, I decided to stick to my original training plan and do my 20 miler solo. I thought I made a good decision because running the full 26 would be too big of a jump in my training and probably would have ended up hurting myself. Also, I didn’t want it to take away from my Disney Marathon since it will not be my “first” marathon anymore.
At this point, I think I am now ready for the race. Taper begins this week. Last Tuesday night, I ran a 5 miler close to race pace. I felt great as I ran it in under 43:00 minutes; my fastest time for a 5 miler. I’m now feeling the effect of all the training I’ve done during the last 15+ weeks. I am not intimidated by a 15 mile run anymore.
I skipped yesterday’s scheduled 8 miler to help my wife do some late Christmas shopping. I think I deserve a little bit of a break anyways since I totaled over 80 miles the last couple of weeks. I’m supposed to do 4 miles today but I’m itching to do more than that. My scheduled long run for this week is only 12 miles. We will be leaving for Tampa tonight to spend Christmas at my sister’s, so there’s a possibility that I might do my 12 miles there. So I’ll be packing my running gear once more.
Been busy with all the holiday stuff and training going on. Still alive. I just survived a 20.6 miler this past weekend and that caps the monster week of training (40 miles total). Taper time begins this week!
I will try to squeeze in a 5 miler today. Less than 3 weeks to go!
So guess what the weather is like earlier today in Jacksonville??? It was a hot and muggy 75. This weather is crazy, two days ago we were in the 50s then all of a sudden it felt like summer again. Tomorrow’s forecast said it will reach 80!
I finally ran my first ever 18 miler this morning. The run was tough because of the heat so I had to take frequent walk and water breaks. I already felt exhausted when I reached the halfway mark. Hopefully next weekend will be a lot cooler.
Here’s the summary from my Garmin:
Garmin Connect – Activity Details for Hot and humid 18 miler.
Starting tomorrow is the monster week!
It’s been several days since my last update so I’ve been busy catching up with everything since our return from vacation. I already posted a recap of the runs that I did while vacationing in Arizona. Here’s another update of my training runs since my return to Jax.
Day 94 – THE WALL!!!!
I decided to go out and do a 9 miler this past Wednesday to get back into the schedule. The weather was warm and very humid, it felt like summer. By around 4 mile mark, I hit THE WALL. It was more of a mental collapse than physical. I just couldn’t will myself to go so I had to walk and jog most of the way back. My legs felt like lead too, I could hardly lift them up. This is the first time I’ve experienced this. Not sure what it was, but it’s probably a combination of jet lag and the flip-flopping Jacksonville weather. I got so used to the cold especially when we were up in Arizona so this one really caught me by surprise. When I got home, I was so exhausted that I went back to bed and spent most of the day sleeping.
Day 95 – 4 mile tempo run
After a terrible run the day before, I bounced back on this run and did a 4 mile tempo run downtown during my lunch break. I felt great and paced at an average of 8:40. And by the way, the weather flipped back into a nice cold 50+ degrees!
It’s been almost 2 weeks since my last post. We just arrived a few of days ago from our family vacation in Arizona. So I had a lot of catching up to do. We had an awesome time and I was still able to squeeze in a couple of quality runs while I was there despite the busy schedule.
Being on vacation definitely made it difficult to stick to my schedule. Family activities, late nights, late dinners and jet lag forced me to skip some runs and adjust my schedule. For week 13, I was only able to total 13 miles so I had to make up for it this week.
Day 92 (Mesa, AZ)- 14 miler in the rain
I scratched the planned 18 miler last weekend because of hectic schedule during vacation but I still did a 14 miler on Monday to make up for the missed runs. I was supposed to do this 14 miler run this weekend, but I’d decided to just swap it and do the 18 miles this weekend.
I planned this route before but had to modify it a bit because I was only doing 14 instead of 18. I also got lost! The weather during our last few days in AZ warmed up and became rainy. I pretty much did this run while raining. I took some photos for souvenir. One thing I noticed in Mesa is that they have a lot of canals like this one.
Some of the roads beside the canals are dirt so I experienced for the first time running in dirt. I actually liked it. It made me think about trying out some trail running after the marathon. I parked my car in the empty parking lot of the Hohokam Stadium (Apparently, the Chicago Cubs use this for their winter practice).
Part of my route is the same route that they use for the Half-marathon event in Mesa which does a couple of loops. I got lost the during the first loop. I had a blast running in unfamiliar place, it made me forget about fatigue and I felt good and strong during the whole run. Now I might have to bring my running shoes with me every time we go somewhere on vacation. It was a fun experience.
This photo I think was near the Downtown area.
Day 88 – 9 miler in AZ
My first run in Mesa, AZ! A bit excited because of the change of scenery and weather. Lots of mountains to see here. The elevation kinda affected me too. I had a little bit of problem breathing at first.
I did this run the morning after we arrived. I was supposed to do 5 miles but I had a feeling I will be skipping that run so I picked the 9 miler. This route was not pre-planned so I just relied on my Garmin on this one. I brought my camera phone with me and took some pics.
